All there is to sip and savor in New Orleans

Welcome to the Party: Cocktail Recipes for Jazz Fest and Cinco de Mayo

Tim McNally

Sazerac cocktail

Wikimedia Commons

Just as I was writing that headline, I realized that in our town when exactly is there a time that a celebration to kick up our heels does not apply?

And here we are about to embark on the second big weekend of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Today, Thursday, is known as Locals' Thursday at the Fair Grounds. The festivities are not limited to residents of the area. In fact, having limitations on any aspect of good times is not within our DNA. We simply don’t do it. Ever.

For those of you just hitting town, or on your way to us, we hope you have the best time of your lives. Enjoy the party. Enjoy our culture, our cuisine and our live-and-let-live attitudes. And none of that is by way of saying to forget your good sense or your good manners. We treat our guests as adults, until they prove otherwise. Have fun. Be safe and don’t do anything here which you would not do in front of your mama. Of course, maybe our mama would be a better example because she is a New Orleanian, probably a bit more forgiving than yours. So let’s just say don’t do anything here you would not do in front of our mama.

While you are here, there are definitely a few drinks you should try. In fact, if you go home without trying these drinks, you may as well have stayed at home. These are classic New Orleans cocktails, and any reader of this column who is from this town, knows these drinks well. These drinks define us. And I note them here as a public service, which is what I am all about. No, don’t bother to thank me now. It’s my job.

The Sazerac

This is the consummate New Orleans drink, invented in 1830 but changed along the way to accommodate challenges, both crops and laws, in other parts of the world since that time. Incidentally, New Orleans is likely the only city in the country that has an official cocktail, which is this one. We think that speaks volumes about our attitudes (see section on “mama” above).

2 ounces rye whiskey

3 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters

1 teaspoon simple syrup

Splash absinthe or Herbsaint

Lemon peel

Pack one Old Fashioned glass with ice. Set aside. In another Old Fashioned glass, add Bitters and simple syrup. Add rye whiskey.

Empty other glass of ice, and then rinse with absinthe or Herbsaint. Discard excess, allowing remaining to coat inside of glass. Add contents from other glass into the chilled glass with absinthe or Herbsaint. Twist lemon peel and rim glass. Place peel into glass.

Cognac, the original base-spirit, can be substituted for rye whiskey.

Ramos Gin Fizz

In the 1880s, Henry C. Ramos, a very popular bartender and ultimately bar owner in the French Quarter and Central Business District, invented the Gin Fizz that still bears his name. He is buried in St. Louis No. 1. And here is his original recipe: “One and Only One Ramos’ Original Gin Fizz."

1 tablespoon powdered sugar

3 or 4 drops of Orange Flower Water

Juice from 1/2 lime

Juice from 1/2 lemon

1 Jigger of Old Tom Gin. (Old Gordon may be used but a sweet (London) gin is preferable).

1 egg white

1/2 glass of crushed ice

About 2 tablespoons of rich milk or cream

A little Seltzer water (about an ounce) to make it pungent.

Blend all ingredients in a Collins glass after vigorous shaking in a shaker, no ice.

No substitutions make any sense and only these ingredients can be used to correctly make this cocktail.

Vieux Carre

This cocktail was invented in the 1930s at the Monteleone Hotel by Walter Bergeron. That location, sitting at the Carousel Bar, is still the best place in town to avail yourself of this wonderful drink.

3/4 ounces rye whiskey

3/4 ounces Cognac

3/4 ounces sweet vermouth

Dash Peychaud's bitters

Dash Angostura aromatic bitters

1/2 teaspoon Benedictine liqueur

Cherry for garnish

Combine all ingredients into mixing glass with ice. Stir, don’t shake. Strain into Old Fashioned glass. Garnish with cherry.

Pimm’s Cup

Not invented here, but served with great flourish at the Napoleon House. Created in 1840, this refreshing drink and its cucumber garnish are perfect for our summer weather.

As if Jazz Fest was not enough, Cinco de Mayo falls on Sunday so more celebrating is in order. We hope you were not planning on sleeping.

For maybe a new experience, try a bit of Mezcal instead of the Tequila which has become synonymous with this celebration by our friends from Mexico. Go easy on both Tequila and Mezcal. These spirits are strong and if you are not accustomed, you may be heading for a very difficult Monday morning ride to Louis Armstrong International Airport.

Margaritas are so simple and so good, it’s a mystery to me how bars all over America, and some here in New Orleans, just mess up this wonderful experience. C’mon, bar folks, it’s only three ingredients. How far wrong can you go with only three ingredients? In my experience, pretty far.

Margarita

I need to disclose up front that I am not a big salt-rim person. Salt is not a deal breaker for me, but it’s not where I like my margarita to go.

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All there is to sip and savor in New Orleans

about

In New Orleans, when the subject is wine and spirits, it is very difficult to leave Tim McNally out of the discussion. He is considered one of the “go to” resources in the Crescent City for counsel and information about adult beverages and their place in the fabric of life in this great city.

Tim is the Wine and Spirits Editor, columnist and feature writer for New Orleans Magazine; the Wine and Spirits Editor and weekly columnist, Happy Hour, for www.MyNewOrleans.com; the Executive Editor and monthly features writer for Gulf Coast Wine + Dine Online; creator and editor of his own website, www.winetalknola.com; all in addition to his daily hosting duties on the radio program, The Dine, Wine and Spirits Show, on the air at WGSO – 990AM, every weekday, 3- 5 p.m, and streamed live on www.wgso.com.

Over the years, Tim has proved to be an informed interviewer, putting his guests at ease, and covering tactile and technical information so that even a novice can understand difficult agricultural and production concepts. Tim speaks with winemakers, wine and spirit ambassadors, distillers, authors, people who stage events and festivals, and takes questions from listeners and readers, all seamlessly blended together in a program that is unique in America.

Tim’s love of wine actually came about many years ago from his then wife-to-be, Brenda Maitland, a noted journalist in her own right, and together they have traveled to the major wine producing areas in the US and Europe, seeking first-hand information about beverages that give us all so much pleasure.

They were instrumental in the founding of the New Orleans Wine and Food Experience, a major national and international well-regarded festival of its type. They both continue to be involved with the planning and staging of this multi-venue, five-day event now over twenty years old.

Tim is also considered one of the foremost professional wine judges in the US, being invited to judge more than 11 wine competitions each year, including the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition (the largest competition of American wines in the world, with more than 6,000 entries), the Riverside, CA International Wine Competition, San Francisco International Wine Competition, Atlantic Seaboard Wine Competition, Indiana International Wine Competition, Sandestin, Florida Wine Festival Competition, the State of Michigan Wine Competition, the U.S. National Wine Competition, and the National Wine Competition of Portugal.

Tim is a guest lecturer to many local wine and dine organizations, and speaks each year to the senior class in the School of Hotel and Restaurant Management at Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama.

Staying abreast of the news of the wine and spirits world is a passion for Tim, and he is committed to sharing what he knows with his listeners and readers. “Doing something I love, with products that I truly enjoy, created by interesting people, coupling the experience with culinary excellence, and doing it all in the greatest city in America,” are the words Tim lives by.